


Blood, Sweat and... Kisses?

by ffsdownworlders



Series: Blood, Sweat and... Kisses? [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 10:06:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13738563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ffsdownworlders/pseuds/ffsdownworlders
Summary: A summary is coming but for now on Jace isn't shitty like in the show and Simon is trans okay bye





	1. Blood, Sweat and... Kisses?

When Simon arrived in front of the Institute, he found the lawn turned into a training zone. There were punching bags, something that looked like a huge treadmill and horizontal bars. Last but definitely not least, a gigantic obstacle course that included a lot of different sectors, most remarkably a huge tower, almost as high as the steeple on the Institute. Once again, Simon noted that the shadowhunters were completely nuts. Nothing new here.

The training zone was near empty, aside from one silhouette furiously beating a punching bag up. Since Simon couldn’t get into the institute without being invited by a shadowhunter, he decided to hope for the best, especially since Clary wasn’t picking up and he didn’t want to wait here outside all night and approached the shadowhunter.

The outcome was neither successful or a failure. It was Jace. On the one hand, Simon would most likely be let into the Institute. On the other one, Jace would make sure it took a lot of effort. He walked up to Jace, and when he heard Simon coming he stopped hitting the bag and turned to the vampire.

“Hey, Jace!” Simon greeted. “Remember that time when I told you that you and the others were kinda like The Brave ones in Divergent?” Jace rolled his eyes as an answer and wiped away sweat from his forehead. Simon forced himself not to watch Jace’s arm as he did and continued; “And you denied it? Still so sure after all this?” He made a wide gesture over the training field.

Jace ignored Simon’s comment and explained: “Tomorrow’s the day when the Clave comes over to give us our yearly “fighting grade,” to make sure we are still worthy to be considered competent shadowhunters.” Was that sarcasm Simon sensed? Maybe not so strange, thinking back to Jace’s history with the Clave. “I figured why not put some extra work into it? I didn’t become the best over just one night, even if it could be hard to imagine,” Jace continued and gave him a smile.

Like so many times before, Simon couldn’t help but notice how good Jace smelled of sweat, leather and a pleasant smell that was his personal, unique one. His vampire abilities didn’t make it any better.

“So, what are you doing here anyway?” Jace asked nonchalantly like he hadn’t noticed Simon drooling all over him. Embarrassed, Simon snapped out of it and focused. “Uh, I was gonna hang out with Clary, just watch a movie, but she didn’t pick up her phone, so I thought like: Hey, maybe that guy could help me, and it was you…” Simon didn’t realize that he was rambling nervously until Jace held up a hand and cut Simon off. “Okay, enough said. Clary isn’t here, she’s out shopping with Izzy”.

Dammit, he had looked forward to a slow evening with his best friend.

“Oh okay, well thanks for the help. See you another day,” Simon rushed, wanting to get as far as from Jace to prevent to embarrassing himself even more.

But as Simon turned over to leave, Jace called out for him;

“Hey, Simon! Wait!”

Simon stopped abruptly at the sound of Jace’s voice and turned back. Jace was walking up to him, with a teasing smile on his lips. “You said earlier that you were interested in training, wanna give it a try? Take a lesson from the master himself?”

The truth was that Simon had only mentioned his interest in training as an excuse, when Jace had caught him staring a couple of weeks earlier. It was a bad idea. A terrible idea. But having an excuse to watch Jace workout was impossible to resist. He heard himself agree before he could talk some sense into his heart.

“Great! Let’s go!” They walked back into the training area and went down to business.

Jace showed Simon some of his tricks, like the perfect punch and the best stance to take during a fight. He also taught Simon how to dodge a blade and the most effective way to disarm someone with and without using a weapon. At one point he also tried to show Simon how to throw knives (even if the results were so bad that they silently decided to never speak of it again). Jace was aware of the fact that Simon’s vampire abilities gave him reflexes and speed far faster than his own, but Jace still couldn’t help but enjoy seeing Simon’s adorable frown as he attempted to perfect his new skills, even though Jace couldn’t help but mock him as he tried. Wait, Simon and adorable in the same sentence? But not even Jace could deny that Simon biting his lower lip as he focused did things to him.

The training continued, and after while Jace took a pause to drink some water. The air was still warm after a remarkably hot day. “Ready for your final challenge, padawan?” Jace asked, looking all sneaky. “Or are you afraid I’ll kick your ass?”

“I’m up for the challenge. Bring on the next task!” Simon answered, hoping that his nerves didn’t reflect in his words.

“In fact, it’s not a task, more like a competition.” Jace turned around and looked at the obstacle course. Of course.

“No way,” Simon protested. “I want to survive another night, thank you very much.”

“Come on Simon! You’re a vamp, this shouldn’t be that hard. And if it is, you really need to make sure it isn’t. Otherwise, you’d be an awful vampire.”

Simon sighed, he was already defeated by Jace’s mocking tone.

“Let’s do it.”

What Jace did next really threw Simon off. Jace just casually took off his shirt, revealing his muscular torso, covered in runes. Simon almost thought that he would pass out at the sight. Jace, however, just flashed Simon a smug smirk and ran toward the first obstacle. Now that had to count as cheating, right? Simon hurried after, using his vampire speed.

The competition didn’t go that bad, except that Jace was ahead of Simon the whole time. If it wasn’t for the vampire speed there would be no chance in the world for Simon to follow. At last, Simon was in front of the tower. He looked up and saw Jace already on his way up and rushed after. The tower turned out to be the hardest part, even if it at first glance looked like an ordinary climbing wall. The background just kept on changing, from rusty metal that cut into his hands, to cold, slippery ice and even some kind of sticky paste that trapped his limbs to the wall. But having Jace’s arrogant smile on his mind, Simon couldn’t do anything but continue his fight to reach the top.

When Simon finally reached the top, a mocking smile greeted him. “Not bad for a newbie,” Jace said, laugh in his voice. He was standing in the middle of the platform, arms crossed over his chest in his typical stance. His hair was a little messy, his muscles swelling and his chest rose heavily. But instead of feeling tired, he looked like he was ready to take over the world. He looked unbelievably sexy.

“Thanks,” Simon answered with a tired smile, flustering, focusing his gaze anywhere except at Jace. He swallowed. “So can we climb down to safe ground now?”

“No way. The last part of the challenge is still left. You have to get me off this platform.”

Simon couldn’t believe his ears. “You want me to, push you from a tower?”

“Yeah, but you won’t be able to, cause I’ll have you down before a blink of an eye,” Jace answered, smirking all cocky and arrogant. “Your move, Simon.”

After these words, Simon just acted on instinct. As he started to move towards Jace, he noticed Jace getting into defense position. Maybe it was time to wipe that cocky smile off his face, Simon thought to himself and put his hands around Jace’s face and pressed his lips against Jace’s.

When Simon moved towards him, Jace thought that he could anticipate what Simon was going to do. He waited for Simon to throw a sloppy punch that was so typical for newbies, or maybe try to surprise him with a kick aimed for the knees.

But what Simon actually did, was something he was nowhere near expecting. As Simon’s lips met Jace’s, he felt a rush of emotions. Joy, happiness, desire, wanting, and more. He answered the kiss eagerly, bumping his forehead toward Simon’s as he leaned into the kiss, putting his hands on Simon’s back.

It wasn’t that Jace had never kissed someone. He had kissed girls as long as he could remember (and a lot more than just kissing, to tell the truth). But no other kiss had made him feel this much. All because of an awkward, nerdy boy with a smile as bright as the sun. It all just felt… right?

The kiss was better than Simon could ever had imagined. Now, Jace was holding onto Simon, pulling him closer, hungry and almost rough. Not that Simon was complaining. Being close to Jace’s naked chest was heavenly. After a while, Jace pulled back, just enough to catch his breath, still holding Simon tightly. Jace’s looked dizzy, his lips were bright red and almost a little swollen. Not feeling Jace’s lips on his own, Simon suddenly remembered why they were even at the top of a tower. This opportunity was just too good to waste.

Jace wasn’t thinking anymore. All that existed was Simon. As Jace pulled away, he could feel how Simon took down his arms from behind Jace’s neck. At first, Jace was worried that he’d done something wrong, but Simon leaned in again and whispered in a teasing voice;  
“I hope you don’t fall all too bad.” Before Jace’s brain was able to process what he actually said, he felt Simon’s hands on his chest and before he knew it, Simon pushed him hard toward the edge of the tower.

Being trained for unexpected events your whole life actually paid off. Jace managed to gain his balance as he landed on the mats below. Just as his mind came racing back, Simon landed on the mat a few feet away from him. He looked Jace straight into the eyes. “Now this was fun, about making it a, um, a date next time?” he asked, flashing a bright smile before disappearing into the dark night, leaving a wide-eyed, blushing Jace behind. Yes, let’s make it a date, Jace thought. Soon enough Simon would realize that payback truly is a bitch.


	2. Falling for You

“Where did you say we were going again?” Simon asked, not taking his eyes off the road. The old, timeworn steering wheel felt familiar under his hands. The old van slowly rolled towards the red light. As it stopped he looked over for an answer from the person in the passenger seat.

Jace turned to Simon with that cocky smile that always drove Simon crazy. Simon just couldn’t believe that Jace was here, in his car. Just the two of them. No Clary, Luke, Alec or Izzy. It was just the two of them. There was no one stopping him from making a move. Like putting his hand on Jace’s knee for an example. Nothing except Simon’s anxiety. Easy right?

“Do I need to repeat myself? The destination is secret for safety reasons. Just shut up and drive.” Jace rolled his eyes. Simon couldn’t tell if Jace just his dramatic self or actually serious for once. It was hard to tell.

“I am so gonna regret this”, Simon muttered to himself but just kept on driving.  
It was a late summer afternoon and it had gone almost two weeks since the kiss at the training camp outside the institute. Two, painfully long weeks filled anxiety and complete silence. After just a couple of days, Simon’s newly found confidence started to fade. He had been so sure that he had impressed Jace that evening. That kiss had truly been something else. And Jace didn’t seem to disagree back then.

But maybe he had just been too shocked? Maybe Jace didn’t enjoy the kiss at all? Maybe Jace wasn’t interested in him? Or worse, not into in boys? Or maybe just not into the kind of boy Simon was. It wouldn't have been the first time that someone rejected him because he's trans. Probably not the last time either. Stupid cis people. 

The thought made him grip the steering wheel even harder. How many times had Simon told himself not to fall in love with straight guys? But the brighter side of Simon’s mind told him something else: maybe pushing Jace off a tower might not have been the best idea. The guy truly had one of the biggest egos Simon ever had seen. Maybe that's why Jace never called. But no matter the reason, Simon’s phone was dead silent, and did it really matter why? 

Then he got Jace’s message. A very short message, just: “pick me up at the institute at 4.”

Not even a question mark. A demand.Yet Simon had never been so relieved over a badly worded text. It was just thing that wasn’t quite right, the word date wasn’t in that sentence. Simon sent back a ‘why??’ but Jace didn’t answer. Big surprise.

Now here they were, and Simon still wasn’t sure what this was all about. It wasn’t like he could ask since Jace stubbornly refused to answer. So they ended up just driving in silence unless Jace pointed where to turn. Simon didn’t want to risk rambling so he decided to just be quiet, trying to only focus intensely on the traffic. It might have been one of Simon’s hardest tasks for the whole week. Maybe even month.

As they drove on the streets turned more run down, shabby and shady in general. The fences were higher, trash bags were piled up against the doorways and holes in the asphalt weren’t uncommon. The walls were covered with graffiti. Simon knew a lot about New York, but not even he knew where they were driving. What on earth would be worth visiting in a neighborhood like this?  
Simon’s last, small hope for some kind of date was crushed under Jace’s heavy boots. This was definitely mission stuff, maybe he needs Simon’s reputation as a daylighter to scare some information out from some vamps or something. Sadly, it had to be something like that, why would Jace voluntarily hang out with Simon if it didn’t involve demon hunting or politics? Something heavy clenched in Simon's chest. Of course, he isn’t good enough for Jace, that’s simply just the sad truth. 

At last Jace told Simon to pull over and the awkward ride was finally over. Simon avoided looking over at Jace as he left the van. A loud thump announced that Jace was out of the car as well. He walked over to Simon, with a neutral look on his face. He was looking painfully handsome, wearing one of his mandatory leather jackets over a white t-shirt and a pair of well-fitting, dark jeans along with black leather boots. The usual seraph blade was attached to his leg with a thigh holster. Yep, this is definitely a mission. Simon’s heart sank. Stupid heart.

Jace shot him a sly smile, probably at Simon’s distressed look and started walking toward one of the highest apartment buildings. After a couple of steps, he turned around to make sure Simon was following.

“You coming or what?” The smile on his face was almost playful. No, it couldn’t be, he was probably just laughing at Simon. Right? Still, that smile made Simon curious, so he ditched his escape plan and followed Jace into the alley.

The alley was dirty and smelled weird, like rotting food, old sweaty socks, and dried blood. This was probably a vampire den. A shady, dirty vampire den. What could possibly make Jace smile that way near a vampire den? Shadowhunters are strange people, Simon thought as he followed Jace deeper into the alley.

They were now standing in front of the doorway but Jace didn’t try to open the massive door. Instead, he jumped far up and landed on a small, half rotten balcony way over their heads. Simon quickly followed and landed beside Jace. 

They were standing uncomfortably close. Simon could clearly pick out Jace’s scent, and as usual, he smelled light of sweat, leather and a something that Simon couldn’t quite decide if it’s his natural smell or a very expensive perfume. With Jace, you could never quite be sure. Simon realized that they had just been standing awkwardly on a potentially dangerous balcony for almost a minute and quickly broke the silence.

“I’m still not sure what this mission is about but I’m pretty sure that if the goal is to stand on a deathtrap of a balcony, that would mean that the shadowhunters have reached a whole new level of stupidity and…”

Jace cut him off by simply turning towards the wall behind them and gripping a fire-ladder and started his climb upwards. After a closer look, Simon noticed that the ladder was rusty and badly attached to the façade. But Jace was calmly climbing it like deadly ladders where something he had dealt with before he even learned to walk. Knowing the Lightwood family, that might as well be the case. Simon looked at the ladder with fear in his eyes.

“Uh Jace are you sure this is a good idea?” he shouted to Jace, who paused and looked down at the sound of Simon’s voice.

“Come on, I remember you climbed that training wall with a lot more energy. I mean this one doesn’t even give off fire,” Jace answered.

Oh god, the training day. His cheeks turned bright red as he remembered the kiss. Why wouldn’t Jace remember that? But there were no sarcastic remarks coming from Jace. Maybe kissing guys at the top of deadly dangerous climbing walls was a normal part of his life? Simon couldn’t be sure of that part either.

“Fine.” Simon finally muttered to himself and carefully tried the first rung and followed Jace toward the roof.

Simon was literally surprised when he made it to the roof in one piece, without facing a painful death to the ground far beneath him. This god damn building was in fact much higher than he had thought from the ground. The roof was surprisingly clean, just some old, bleached garden furniture in one corner and some scrap in the other, such as a rusty bike, car wheels and a tarpaulin, covering some undefinable objects.

Simon stopped observing the trash and turned to look at Jace. Another piece of trash though. But as Simon’s idiotic heart started to beat as crazy again, Simon had to take that thought back.

Jace was leaning against the edge of the roof, looking out over the skyline. He looked relaxed, nothing like his usual military stance. But as Simon walked up to him, he turned around and placed himself in front of Simon.

“Hey, what are you doing? You’re blocking the view!” Simon protested, trying to look beside Jace.

Jace flashed Simon that cocky smile. “I am the view,” he laughed. Simon just rolled his eyes. “Besides,” Jace continued, crossing his arms over his chest, (which showed off his arms in a very nice way, just an observation) “there’s something way cooler that I want to show you.” He walked over to the trash-filled corner and drew away from the tarpaulin.

Hidden beneath it was some kind of old-school motorcycle. Simon knew almost nothing about motorcycles so he wasn’t able to guess the brand but it looked old and very expensive.

“What exactly are we doing here again? On a roof, with a motorcycle? That seems to cost more than my college classes?”

Jace started to roll the motorcycle out of the corner and explained: “Now this is a Harley Davidson and yes, it’s probably worth way more than your college classes.”

Jace placed himself on the motorcycle. It looked so natural, Simon couldn’t help but notice that this wasn’t the first time Jace had driven a motorbike.

“Is it a vamp bike? Simon asked.

Jace got a disappointed look on his face. “You know about them?”

“I might not have been a vampire for very long, but when I lived at DuMort it literally went two days and then someone crashed one on the roof. Raphael’s face, when that happened, isn’t something you forget. And we are literally on the roof of a skyscraper, why would someone place a regular one up here?”

“Good point.”

Jace started the engine and rolled the bike towards Simon and sat up.

“Are you coming or what?” he said and reached out for Simon’s hand. God, that stupid smile again. Simon could start wars and burn bridges for that smile. This was a bad idea, a really bad idea. It just happened to be that Simon couldn’t handle heights. Like at all. But Jace was looking at Simon like Simon was the stars in his universe.

The late summer air filled Simon with the smell of blossoming flowers, food from street restaurants and just plain fresh air, covering up the less pleasant smells from the alleyways and the ports. The glimmering lights from the city below them 

Simon’s grip was tight around Jace’s waist as they flew over the city. The bike let out a small, nice humming sound as it flew over 100 meters above the ground. The city above them turned blurrier and blurrier as the bike went faster and faster. Simon’s grip tightened even more, terrified at the thought of falling off the bike. But when nothing happened Simon started to relax. He didn’t let go of Jace though. 

“Relax, I know what I’m doing,” Jace shouted, probably because Simon’s grip made it hard for him to breathe.

“Sure Jan,” Simon muttered but eased his grip.

“What?” The bike lost height.

“Nothing, concentrate on the road!” Simon screamed. “The sky or whatever.”

An amused laugh was Jace’s only comment to that.

“Why are we doing this again? Are we going to fight some dragons or what?”

“Simon, how many times do I need to tell you that there’s no such thing as dragons?”

“Then tell me why there’s…” Jace cut him off.

“Wait, do you actually think this is some kinda mission? Like seriously, that’s what you thought?”

“Well, what else would you need me for?”

“Simon, you literally asked me to call. Should I try and call later?” As Simon tried to process what Jace just said, just about everything went wrong.

A high-pitched shriek abruptly cut Simon out of his confused thoughts. Something big, dark and scaly suddenly appeared in front of the bike and it wouldn’t be many seconds before it would hit the bike. Jace acted like any well-trained shadowhunter- swiftly and without any second thoughts. But right when they started to relax another flying creature appeared and crashed right into the bike and then they were falling.

Jace wasn’t sure when this day started going in the wrong direction. Maybe when Izzy laughed at his attempt to dress up in a non-obvious way, but for some reason, she didn’t think that a leather vest with spikes and a big necklace was the best idea if you want to go for something casual. Maybe so, but Jace knew that he had looked amazing in that vest.  
Izzy also managed to make him reveal the real reason to why he was trying to dress up when going to the club at 6 didn’t fool her. It all resulted in him just throwing out one of his usual outfits, to Izzy’s disappointment. Jace couldn’t remember the last time he saw Izzy that excited for one of his “book club meetings.” Maybe because they both knew that this was something more than his normal hookups.

Or more likely, it was when he had to talk himself out of a date with some annoying shadowhunter girl he couldn’t even remember the name of. Apparently, Jace had agreed to go out with her today of all days. She must have made it all up because Jace hadn’t been that drunk in a long time. After almost 15 minutes Jace ended it all by saying that he was going on a date with a boy. Suddenly the girl got extremely busy with something else. Homophobic jerk.

Then the date didn’t follow Jace’s plans at all. He got nervous, and just wanted to run back into safety in the institute when Simon’s silly van showed up. When he pulled himself together and got into the van, he almost got tongue-tied. The most unbelievable thing had happened, Jace Lightwood- Herondale got nervous before a date. He had been on countless dates, he was supposed to know how to handle situations like this. 

But this wasn’t just a date with anyone, Simon Lewis was here, and it made Jace’s heart beat like nothing else before. The kiss they shared haunted Jace every minute of the day, and each night he dreamt about what could have happened if Simon hadn’t decided to push him off that tower. After a little over a week, Jace had realized that there was just one way to find out.

But then Jace’s carefully planned date turned into a big crash. Literally. As in a big, fucking, crash. Like with screaming and a lot of fire. Okay, not actually fire, but there was screaming. Mostly swear words. From himself. Fuck, this was going to hurt. And then they hit the surface. 

 

Simon gasped for air and quickly got to his feet in the water. His side hurt, but nothing too bad. Well, the breathing part was mostly a reflex from getting out from the water. He looked around and saw the motorcycle a couple of meters away from him. It looked completely trashed. Jace wasn’t far from it, he laid on his side, facing the other way from Simon. 

He didn’t move. Simon quickly hurried over, fearing the worst. He grabbed Jace by the shoulders and turned him around. His eyes were closed, and he didn’t react to Simon’s touch. Simon placed his hand on Jace’s chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed slowly. 

Panic started to build up in Simon as Jace still wasn’t reacting or responding. He tried to remember all the first aid stuff they had learned back in high school as he pulled Jace up on dry ground. Unfortunately, he realized that it wouldn’t be useful at all since Simon didn’t consume oxygen anymore, dammit. 

He thought about looking through Jace’s pockets to find his stele, but settled for a slap to the cheek instead. Jace immediately opened his eyes.

“What was that for?” he said, voice accusatory. 

Simon just stared. “What that was for? I thought that you were unconscious you…”

“Aren’t you supposed to do CPR when someone might have breathed in water?”, he said, smiling. 

“Jace for fuck's sake I’m dead! No breathing, remember?” 

“Oh. Right,” Jace said and went silent. He started to get on his feet, reflexivity reaching out for Simon. Simon took his hand and helped him up. 

Then they just stood like that, hand in hand, staring into each other’s eyes. Jace’s beautiful different colored eyes stared right back at Simon without hesitation. Finally, Simon broke the silence and let go of Jace’s hand. Jace got his wet hair out of his face.

“Jace, about what you said up there, I just wanted… Wait did you fake being unconscious?”

“Maybe,” Jace answered, grinning. “But let’s get this straight…”

“I’ve never been very good at that” Simon cut him off, smiling.

Jace rolled his eyes. “Okay let’s get this bi then,” Simon laughed. 

Jace’s face went serious but soft at the same time. He took a deep breath.

“Simon Lewis, I haven’t been able to function since that day you kissed me at the top of the training tower. The sound of your laugh and the cute face you make when faced with challenges have made it hard for me to concentrate during training and meetings. The way your body felt under my hands and the thought of your smile against my lips keep me awake all night.” He paused reaching for Simon’s hand again, lacing his fingers between Simon’s. Jace looked humbler and more earnest than Simon had ever seen him, and could Simon sense some anxiousness there too?

When Simon didn’t respond at once, Jace started to let go of Simon’s hand.

“I’m sorry if that was too forward I didn’t mean to...”

“Can I kiss you?” Simon blurted out, cutting Jace off. 

Jace’s face went from disappointment to a smile as big and bright as the full moon over them in less than a second and bent over and rested his forehead on Simon’s. As frustrated and desire filled their first kiss had been, as gentle and tender was their second. Jace gently cupped Simon’s cheek and Simon --fumbling-- placed his arms on Jace’s waist, not minding the fact that they were both completely soaked.

Jace pulled back from the kiss and leaned against Simon’s forehead again. Simon smiled at him, that smile of sunshine that Jace would do anything for. They were both just standing there, holding each other and enjoying the beautiful night. The water in the pond was blank as a mirror, despite the motorcycle breaking the surface.

The moon was just over the trees, light barely touching the water. The sounds of the city were only background noises, replaced with the sounds of late night insects. people laughing from distance and the wind rustling through the treetops. 

As they stood there, quietly, Jace thought about how different this was from last time. How competitive, sarcastic and tense it had been. But also insecure. 

Maybe it didn’t have to be that different, Jace thought with a smug smile, glaring at the man in his arms. Then he quickly lifted Simon up and threw him into the water. Simon screamed as he hit the water again. Jace laughed until he almost cried as he saw Simon’s angry face, but then he hurried into the water to join in.

Even though payback is great and all, it didn’t even compare to the way Simon laughed as Jace swam out to face the only thing in the world brighter than the sun.


End file.
